Vringo, Inc. VRNG, a company engaged
in the innovation, development and monetization of intellectual property and
mobile technologies, today provides an update on Vringo Infrastructure, Inc.'s
lawsuit against ZTE in Romania.
In June 2014, Vringo Infrastructure, Inc. sued ZTE in Romania for patent
infringement seeking damages and a permanent injunction. In a parallel
proceeding, Vringo requested and obtained, ex parte, an interim injunction
prohibiting ZTE and its distributors from importing, exporting, introducing on
the market, offering for sale, storing, selling, distributing, promoting,
and/or conducting any other trading activity with respect to any 4G/LTE mobile
phone produced by ZTE and any infrastructure equipment produced by ZTE which
incorporates 4G/LTE technology.
After the trial court granted the interim injunction, ZTE filed a request to
overturn the injunction with the Bucharest Court of Appeal. ZTE also asked
the Court of Appeal by way of a separate proceeding to suspend the injunction
until the Court of Appeal reviewed the grant of the interim injunction. ZTE
alleged that the grant of the interim injunction subjected ZTE to losses in
excess of €31,523,069.00 under its agreements with Cosmote Romania and
Deutsche Telekom AG.
On October 10, 2014, in the face of ZTE's allegations that it was immediately
subject to tens of millions of Euros in contract losses, the Bucharest Court
of Appeal temporary suspended enforcement of Vringo's interim injunction
against ZTE pending the outcome of ZTE's appeal, which is expected before
mid-December.
This appeal does not affect Vringo's underlying infringement case, in which it
is seeking damages and a permanent injunction. That case is expected to be
heard in the second half of 2015.
"Vringo welcomes the opportunity to have the Bucharest Court of Appeal decide
whether Vringo is entitled to an injunction against ZTE on the full record.
Vringo is confident in both the merits of its underlying case and the
necessity and merit of an interim injunction against ZTE," said David Cohen,
Vringo's Chief Legal and Intellectual Property Officer.
Vringo has sought to engage ZTE in licensing discussions related to Vringo's
standard essential patent portfolio for over two years following a decade of
failed attempts by the previous owner of those patents. Vringo has even
proposed to have the United Kingdom High Court or independent arbitrators
resolve the parties' disputes.
When Vringo tried to engage ZTE in direct discussions in December 2013 and
provided settlement material under a non-disclosure agreement (NDA), ZTE
consciously chose to use Vringo's materials in violation of the NDA. ZTE's
breach of the NDA is currently the subject of litigation in New York where
Vringo has already received a temporary restraining order against ZTE. Vringo
is seeking a permanent injunction as well as compensatory and punitive damages
against ZTE in the New York litigation.
Additionally, Vringo believes that ZTE has failed to fully respect relevant
court orders in Brazil, Germany and India. As such, Vringo has been left with
no choice but to file a request for seizure of certain ZTE equipment in
Brazil, a lawsuit for an accounting in Germany, and two contempt motions in
India.
In Brazil, on October 2, 2014, in view of ZTE's violation of an injunction,
the trial court ordered the seizure of certain ZTE equipment.
In Germany, the litigation on ZTE's failure to provide proper accounting, as
ordered by the court, will be tried on November 21, 2014.
In India, Vringo's contempt motions are currently awaiting a ruling by the
Indian court.
Notwithstanding ZTE's actions to date, Vringo remains willing to license its
standard essential patents on a fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory basis.
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